Zuhdi Labib Terzi (née Zuhdi Labib Suleiman Tarazi 20 February 1924 – 1 March 2006) served as the first

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the State of Palestine, Palestinian delegation to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United ...

from 1974 to 1991.

Ambassador to the UN

Terzi was the first Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations and served from 1974 to 1991. Terzi successfully fought attempts by the United States to close down the Mission, and following the 1988 Declaration of the Independence of the State of Palestine, Terzi changed the role of the Ambassador from representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization to representing the State of Palestine. In 1985, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

refused Terzi the right to enter the United States for a debate with Harvard professor,

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, U.S. constitutional and American criminal law, criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law Sc ...

. Consequentially,

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

brought suit against the Secretary of State George P. Shultz to permit Terzi to enter the United States. Judge Skinner, of the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

, reversed the decision of the Secretary and permitted Terzi to enter the United States because denying Terzi entry into the United States suppressed political speech that is protected under the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Personal life and education

Tarazi, dubbed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, was born to

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

parents in Jerusalem during the British Mandate. He attended Terra Santa College, and graduated with a law degree in 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terzi, Zuhdi Labib 1924 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Palestinian diplomats Permanent observers of Palestine to the United Nations Politicians from Jerusalem Eastern Orthodox Christians from Palestine

Ambassador to the UN

Personal life and education

See also

References